Why The VW I.D. R Sounds Like an Ambulance

An electric motor doesn't make much noise-at most, a high-pitched whir when it's really working. Even the two powerful electric motors in the Volkswagen I.D. R-the car that just shattered the Pikes Peak Hillclimb record-are very quiet, even though they offer a combined 680 hp. Which is why it had to run up the mountain sounding like an ambulance.

Because electric cars hardly make any noise, especially compared to internal-combustion race cars, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb requires all EVs competing to be equipped with a siren. Specifically, according to the rule book, "an audio warning system that produces a constant audio warning at a minimum of 120 decibels as measured three feet from the vehicle." This system must be activated from outside the vehicle, and the Hill Climb states that there are "no exceptions" to this rule.

That's about as loud as an ambulance siren, to give you a better idea. This is done so people (and other animals) on the mountain can hear the car coming well in advance, long before they'd be able to hear the electric motors. You can hear it in the video below, after the I.D. R crosses the finish line:

The first electric car to compete at Pikes Peak was a modified Fiat 128 that ran up the hill in 32:07 back in 1981, according to J David McNeil, a historian of EV competitors at the hillclimb. Electric vehicles got their own class at Pikes Peak beginning in 1994, with EVs becoming a regular sight in the annual competition around 2009. McNeil estimates that the siren was made mandatory around 2011.

It's disconcerting to hear a siren at a motorsports event-in general, that sound means something bad has happened-but here, it makes sense. It's a sound that clearly communicates "get out of the way-something's coming, quickly," and that's a good thing to have when you've got a car as fast and quiet as the I.D. R.

It doesn't seem like Pikes Peak organizers have a specific siren mandated, though. Some sound like car alarms, while others bring to mind home burglar alarms. But since all are loud and high-pitched, they'll do the job.